Yukon's Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Brendan Hanley alongside Minister of Health Pauline Frost announced the third case of COVID 19 in the Yukon yesterday at the Yukon Government Administration Building.
This third case is related to travel outside of Yukon. The individual was tested on Monday, March 23 and test results were received this morning. The individual is doing well at home and contact tracing has begun.
Doctor Hanley also used the opportunity to update Yukoners on further measures being put into place to slow the spread of COVID 19 and protect Yukoners from the illness.
Yukon hospitals are suspending all non-urgent or routine services as of today, Thursday, March 26. This includes bloodwork and lab tests, x-rays, CT scans and other imaging services, physiotherapy and occupational therapy, and specialist appointments.
Yukoners should not go to a hospital for a non-urgent service, treatment or exam at this time. The hospitals continue to provide urgent emergency care.
The Government of Yukon is extending the Health Care Insurance Plan to cover Yukon residents who are not able to return to the territory because of the pandemic. The usual requirement to be resident in Yukon for at least 180 days to qualify for health care insurance will be waived.
The respiratory assessment centre in Whitehorse is now open to support people with acute respiratory illness such as influenza or COVID-19 who need medical assessment. Yukoners will be referred to the centre from 811, a family physician's office, Yukon Communicable Disease Control or a hospital emergency department.
Yukoners and any visitors are reminded they must self-isolate for 14 days as soon as they arrive in Yukon if they have travelled within Canada or internationally. People must not stop to get groceries or make visits but go straight home and then arrange the support they need.
Yukoners should also self-isolate if they have been identified as a close contact of someone diagnosed with COVID-19. The term "quarantine" is not used in Yukon, as it is used by the Public Health Agency of Canada to mean a mandatory restriction of movement in a location determined by that agency.
Yukon.ca continues to be the central place to find information about the territory's response to COVID-19 and is regularly updated to provide support for Yukoners. This includes how many confirmed cases there are in Yukon, how many tests have been negative, how many results are pending and the total number of tests. Yukoners are reminded to use the online assessment tool on Yukon.ca if they have concerns about COVID-19.
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